Recipe

The original term (recipe, v.) was used as an imperative to consume something and followed by (an) ingredient(s) to do so with, such as "recipe an apple." It comes from the Latin word recipere 'receive', which shares that origin with the earlier English word for (recipe, n.), which was receipts. Perhaps this is why the shift to recipe from receipts occurred: a common definition.

From the early 16th century onwards, it was defined as a noun, first as a formula for a prescription - which is why the character Rx appears to represent that word in the pharmacy (Merriam Webster Dictionary). Then it was defined as instructions in cookery, and in later extended use as any plan to achieve an end (Oxford English Dictionary).

This relationship between medicine and cookery shines light on one of Plato's frequently quoted concepts from his Gorgias. It shows how closely related they are, and yet so distinct.

“Cookery simulates the disguise of medicine, and pretends to know what food is the best for the body; and if the physician and the cook had to enter into a competition in which children were the judges, or men who had no more sense than children, as to which of them best understands the goodness or badness of food, the physician would be starved to death" (Plato).

You can tell this is an AI generated image, because the words within the recipe are almost completely unintelligible in any language.

There is one early mention, in the Oxford English Dictionary Meanings & Use section, of recipe as a list of ingredients for food in 1631, though it may have appeared before that in other works. After that, it is used in the 18th century, but predominantly in the 19th century and increases after that. This may be because there was a revolution in cooking culture with the French invention of the restaurant in the 18th century, which spread swiftly to Britain that same century, and into America within 50 years.

With the exception of the Scottish spellings before 1700 (recepe and recipie), it has almost always been spelled recipe, both as an imperative and as a noun. (The recepe spelling occurred briefly in standard English as well.) Since its verb usage is only as an imperative, there have been no case endings, even in Middle English. As a noun, it can be pluralized to recipes, and has been used as such at least since 1622. Comparing the first pluralized quote from the Oxford English Dictionary with a later one, we see a discrepancy in the use of the final -s regarding the use of the apostrophe before it: "and then would hee take forth one of his recipe's" (J. Mabbe in 1622) versus "They, with their Recipes, Corrupt our Blood" (J. Tutchin in 1697). All of these versions are applying the definition of a medicine, but the same applies to recipes for food.

With the word recipe as a starting point, we might be able to see beyond Plato to what cooking and medicine have in common: whether upon soul or body, they nourish us.

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Merriam Webster Dictionary. "When a Recipe Was a ‘Receipt'". Merriam Webster Dictionary. Retrieved October 2025, from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/recipe-vs-receipt-usage-word-history

Oxford English Dictionary. "Recipe, n." Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition. Retrieved October 2025 from: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/recipe_n?tab=meaning_and_use#26568611

Oxford English Dictionary. "Recipe, v." Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition. Retrieved October 2025 from: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/recipe_v?tab=meaning_and_use#12938349

Plato. "Gorgias." Plato: The Complete Works, translated by Benjamin Jowett and George Burges, third edition, Oxford University Press, 1892.

*AI image generated by Google Gemini.